SpeedGrader versus Turnitin: Lessons learned so far

Posted on: 10 March 2021 by Shonagh Wilkie in Canvas at Liverpool

Jeremy Marshall (Law Lecturer) and Joshua Bratt (Learning Technology Support Officer) from the School of Law and Social Justice reflect on their experiences of using both Turnitin and SpeedGrader within Canvas, and explain why they recommend using the new application.

A useful comparison

The fact that the School of Law and Social Justice has used both the Turnitin and SpeedGrader applications within the new VLE this year is “a happy accident”, admits Josh, but one that has enabled them to compare the two in action.

Within Law, most staff opted to use SpeedGrader, while most of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology department use the Turnitin LTI within Canvas. While the prospect of administering two systems in the same School during the same exam period may be enough to send shudders through many school administrators, Joshua says “it really wasn’t as bad as it could have been, perhaps because we could spread our resources, essentially creating a ‘mini-team’ for each system.”

Josh continues: “The ease of setting up SpeedGrader also made the process a lot smoother. While Turnitin has the same base settings as SpeedGrader, there are lots of settings behind the scenes that you have to tinker with. There’s a lot of room for error that isn’t there with SpeedGrader.”

Both Josh and Jeremy are candid about their preference for the new application. “I think SpeedGrader is the final nail in the coffin for Turnitin. It really doesn’t measure up to SpeedGrader, and with expected upcoming enhancements to SpeedGrader including the ability to draw on a ‘library’ of grading comments the gap is going to grow wider.” says Jeremy.

Joshua agrees: “SpeedGrader is built for Canvas and so it responds better to it. I think in terms of usability, student experience and more, I would recommend it over Turnitin.”

SpeedGrader versus Turnitin

So what is it about SpeedGrader that has made fans of Josh and Jeremy?

One of the big differences is the flexibility that SpeedGrader brings by being the default grading application within Canvas, as opposed to being a plugin like Turnitin.

Josh explains: “SpeedGrader enables you to allocate markers to assignments using the Groups function in Canvas. For example, you can use Groups to set up one group per marker, lock access and then add in their allocation of assignments. Then markers can go straight in and start marking.”

Things aren’t so controlled if you use Turnitin, adds Josh: “In Turnitin, you have to manage this process using an Excel spreadsheet, where you manually allocate markers using assignment ID numbers.”

Another benefit of SpeedGrader is its flexibility around due dates and course submission deadlines. “SpeedGrader allowed us to build in extensions. So you can have a ‘due date’ for the majority of your cohort but you can also add in, for example, a five-day extension for specific individuals or groups that only appears and applies to them,” Jeremy notes. “That wasn’t possible in Turnitin. If you tried to set this up, it would just push the dates for everybody back by five days as well.”

Things to be aware of in SpeedGrader

Although Joshua and Jeremy are both in agreement that SpeedGrader is better to use in Canvas than Turnitin, they stress that users should be aware of some key differences between the two applications.

The first, is that paper IDs are not visible to markers. “Within SpeedGrader, each paper is numbered starting at one, and this is the same for every marker. So you might have a paper called Student 47 but so could five other markers. This means that you can’t use the paper ID as a signifier to ask for a second opinion or to identify a student if they’ve submitted something incorrectly,” says Josh . “You have to ask all markers to come out the system while the administrator removes anonymity to get that information.”

Sticking with anonymity, the second key difference to note is that if you leave feedback on a student assignment via SpeedGrader anonymity is off by default for annotated comments and anonymity for comments left on the Left-hand panel in SpeedGrader cannot be turned on. “Not only can the student see who you are, but they can respond to your feedback as well,” Jeremy explains. “That could be an asset for people who want it but if you've got 300 students who want to reply to your feedback that’s potentially an awful lot of work. So it is something to be mindful of as Turnitin has anonymity on by default. There are workarounds we’re investigating, like leaving one ‘big’ comment that is essentially a full feedback summary, at the end of the assignment itself.”

The third difference is that grade release is automatic or manual, not timed, within SpeedGrader. “This is one of the first things we noticed,” says Joshua. “In Turnitin, you can say ‘I want to release this grade for this course on Tuesday the 14 August’. In Canvas it is either ‘Release them automatically when available’ or you can choose to release them manually.”

The final point highlighted by Josh and Jeremy is that papers cannot be submitted on behalf of a student via SpeedGrader. “If a student is struggling to access Canvas, or locked out of the VLE for any reason, it’s normal policy for us to upload assignments on their behalf,” Joshua explains. “This isn’t possible on SpeedGrader and so has posed some problems we’re still trying to work around.”

Student communications

Josh and Jeremy also stress the importance of issuing clear guidance to students submitting assignments in Canvas either via SpeedGrader or Turnitin this semester or during resits. This guidance should highlight what browser to use (Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge but not Internet Explorer), the types of files that can be submitted plus the fact that they won’t receive a 'receipt' if they submit assignments via SpeedGrader.

Keywords: Canvas, SpeedGrader, Turnitin.